If it gains more than 100,000 signatures, the petition could force the issue to be debated in Parliament, as the Government promises that any e-petition which receives this level of support will become eligible for discussion in the House of Commons.

So far, over 7,600 people have added their name to it.

John Markham, a spokesman for the ICBP, said that the petition provided “the perfect opportunity for British citizens and those resident, or normally, resident in the UK, to take action against the unfair freezing of pensions".

The petition comes hot on the heels of another attemptby the ICBP to have the issue reviewed by Parliament, which took the form of an Early Day Motion or EDM. The EDM, which was tabled in June, attracted the support of a number of cross-party MPS, but was not selected to be debated.

“When we tabled the EDM, many MPs said that they would like to support our cause but as a matter of principle do not sign EDMs”, Mr Markham explained. “Therefore, this petition also provides them with the perfect opportunity to show their support.”

Under current regulations, cost-of-living pension increases are denied to over half a million British retirees living abroad.

Expats in Europe, the US and a number of other countries receive the same annual increments as pensioners based in Britain, but those living in countries including South Africa, Canada and Australia have had their pensions frozen at the rate they were when they first started drawing them abroad.

Angela Steele, a 68-year-old from Yorkshire who emigrated to South Africa with her husband in the 1970s, said that she felt the policy punished her "for leaving the UK in the first place".

"I had no idea that if we moved, we were forfeiting our opportunity to get a decent pension. Now, my meagre state pension means I can’t afford to live well here in South Africa nor to move back," she said. "Sadly, our Government seems to think that when it comes to its own citizens, it’s ‘out of sight, out of mind’.”

Telegraph Expat is supporting the campaign to uprate British expat pensions. Find out more about the plight of British pensioners abroad here.